PRESENT STATUS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION IN NAGALAND: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

Education is the most important medium through which a nation can achieve its goals and objectives like rapid economic growth and development, equal distribution of income and wealth, elimination of poverty and unemployment etc. Looking to the importance of education in the socio economic and political development of people of a county, providing education to all is the primary function of every government whether it is industrially developed or developing countries. Ever since the adoption of our constitution in 1950, the elementary education has been drawn the center of focus. The constitution of India guarantees free and compulsory education to all its children up to the age of 14 years. Within the elementary education, again priority was given to primary education. However, the District Primary Education Program (DPEP) was initially only limited to primary level but afterwards it was extend to upper primary level. Again, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has also included the entire sphere of elementary education i.e. both primary and upper primary education. In spite of all efforts, increase in government spending and private investment in education, increase in number of schools and number of teachers, the universal primary education is a far distance dream. After the 65 years of independence, the 2011 census of India shows that more than one fourth of the total population of India remained illiterate. Only 74% of the total populations, 82.1% of the male and 65.5% of the female population of India are literate. Nagaland of course achieved the highest growth rate of 19.63% in the literacy rate among all states and union territories in India during 2001 to 2011 census (i.e. from 60.47% to 80.10%). Again, it is pathetic to say that 85% of the school, going children of India cannot complete high school and 93% cannot be graduated in India. Secondary education is acting as bridge between elementary and higher education. It plays an important role to opt for different streams of education. In other words, the results at the secondary level help the students to be selected for different streams at reputed institutions at higher secondary level, junior Engineering, ITI, which again helps them to choose higher education and their future career. Looking to the importance of secondary education, each parents try to choose a right kind of secondary schools for their children according to their ways and means.